FOAFTALE NEWS

NEWSLETTER OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR CONTEMPORARY LEGEND RESEARCH

No. 69 December 2007 ______

now on members will be able to share discussions and information, and access FTN from this site. Rather than IN THIS ISSUE sending FTN out via E-mail or as printed copy, as we have done in the past, members will be alerted when an issue A New Home For FTN of the newsletter is available, so they may read it online or print it out as they wish. Once the system is up and What Can We Learn From Popular Collections running, back numbers will also be available for browsing or printing. Of Urban Legends? Sandy Hobbs And Seonaid Anderson Hearty thanks to Eda for bringing FTN into the 21st century! "/Myth" In Crosswords And Comics Jan H. Brunvand REMINDER Now would be a good time to check whether your Two Legends From Estonia membership is up-to-date for 2008. To renew your Eda Kalmre membership, send a cheque made out to "ISCLR" for US$30.00 or UK£20 to Mikel J. Koven, Arts, "The Man In The Middle." Humanities and Social Science, University of Further Update Worcester, Henwick Grove, Worcester WR2 6AJ, UK. Bonnie Taylor-Blake

Events

Awards What Can We Learn From Popular Collections Of Urban Legends? Publication News Sandy Hobbs and Seonaid Anderson Miscellany

Although scholars of contemporary legend naturally lay PLEASE NOTE: particular stress on stories which are orally transmitted, there will be no print version of this issue. they have shown themselves willing to take account of material transmitted via other media such a newspapers, films and the internet. There is one type of transmission A New Home for FTN which seems to have received little or no systematic attention, namely printed collections aimed at a popular audience. Even the most cursory glance shows that there Gillian Bennett (Editor) are many such volumes available. Since the apparently unscholarly nature of such volumes makes it unlikely that This will be the last issue of FTN E-mailed to you from the they will be reviewed in scholarly journals, it seemed UK. When Mikel Koven, FTN's previous editor, left the worthwhile attempting a systematic consideration of some Department of Film and Theatre Studies at Aberystwyth of these popular collections. we lost the web address we had been using for some The modern era of research on contemporary legends time, and Eda Kalmre, generously offered her services may be seen as starting with the appearance of and those of the Folklore Department at the Estonian Brunvand’s in 1981. Since then, Literary Museum, to fill the gap. Our new address will be there have been many books containing such legends. http://www.folklore.ee/FOAFtale. Contributions should be Whereas Brunvand’s many collections have the dual aims sent to of entertaining the reader and increasing our Eda has also offered to set up a user group for ISCLR understanding, many of these other volumes appear members (its address will be ). From primarily aimed at entertainment. This paper considers the question of how scholars should treat these popular sentence statements as separate entities. However, this collections. may have the disadvantage of exaggerating the apparent An initial look at some of these volumes indicated that coverage of a particular volume. For example, Craughwell they clearly varied in a number of potentially significant (2005, p 244) has as adjacent “Short Takes”: ways. Some had characteristics which might be considered as partly scholarly in nature, in that they Burt Reynolds is Tom Selleck’s father. encouraged a critical approach to the texts. This might Clark Gable is Tom Selleck’s father. include commentary on the legend texts, discussion of variants texts and possible origins, and giving references. Note that even by generously counting these and Even an index might be regarded as a feature of similar examples as separate legends, we could not justify scholarship as it implies a systematic reading of the book. the book title’s claim to include 666 entries. Our count Scholarship and entertainment may exist side by side, but reached only 636. Such exaggeration is not unique. The without any of the scholarly attributes a book will simply book by Genge presented us with particular problems as it be seeking to evoke responses such as amusement or is long and lacks an index. It is not always clear when a horror. story is presented as a “legend” and when as a “true” We decided to look for books, published in English in incident which is comparable with a legend. For this the United States and United Kingdom since the 1990s, reason, we are particularly cautious about giving an which appeared to be aimed primarily at a popular estimate of the number of legends in this book. audience and to be concerned with contemporary legends These books vary considerably in the extent of in general. We excluded books by authors who are part of scholarship displayed. Only two contained an index and the scholarly community. Where authors have published three have references to other works. At one extreme, more than one book we examined the content. The two Reeve (2002), apart from a single page introduction and a books by Holt and Mooney (1999, 2004) have virtually no few simple illustrations, consists only of legend texts. By overlap in content, so both have been considered. contrast, Harding discusses conceptual and theoretical However, in other cases there was considerable overlap, issues (though not necessarily very well) and has (e.g. Brown and Flynn, 2000 and 2003, Craughwell, 2000 references (but no index). and 2005, and Healey and Glanvill, 1992, 1993, 1994 and The concept of “urban legend” and “urban myth” is 1996). For these authors, we selected only the latest treated very broadly by some writers. The Tom Selleck volume. Dale (2005) was excluded as it is simply a slightly examples we have quoted might be considered cases of updated version of his 1978 book. We excluded Roeper using “urban legend” to mean simply a statement that is (2002) because it is about Hollywood stories and not not true. This is not a very helpful usage, particularly if no contemporary legends in general. Likewise Williams attempt is made to indicate that the statement is in (2001) has been excluded since it is primarily a Christian circulation and believed. polemic. However, Hennigan (2002) is included because, As a first step in exploring these variations we set out despite the title, Scottish Urban Myths, the contents show to find how frequently the legends appearing in very little that is distinctively Scottish and most of the Brunvand’s Vanishing Hitchhiker appeared in each of the stories included occur in other collections. Since some books sampled. Brunvand gives titles to 25 legends in collections of urban legends are ephemeral, we doubt that book. We scanned all 10 books seeking versions of whether our sample is in any sense definitive, but since these legends. Initially we erred on the side of these volumes show a number of contrasting features, the overinclusiveness, then took a more critical second look. sample is probably broad enough to indicate some of the The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs occurred most main features of this type of book. frequently (7 times) while Hot Dog (also known as the The ten works subjected to systematic review are Microwaved Pet), Kentucky Fried Rat, The Runaway identified in the reference list by an asterisk. We have Grandmother, and The Vanishing Hitchhiker itself all noted the number of legend texts included, whether the appeared in six of the collections. In contrast, Fart in the work contains an index and references to other Dark and The Ghost Airliner occurred in only one publications, and the extent of any commentary on the collection and The Cut-Out Pullman, The Devil in the texts. Whether, when transmitted orally, contemporary Dancehall and The Economical Car did not appear in any. legends are always “told as true” is in doubt. What cannot How may this variation be interpreted? One be doubted about these volumes is that virtually from the explanation might be that the compilers of these popular titles onwards, the stories are told as “not true”. The books may have a preference for particular kinds of story. contents are referred to as “legends” or “myths”, or Another possibility is that the frequency of their sometimes both. Although some scholars prefer the occurrence is an indication of how prominent the legend is phrase “Contemporary Legend”, Brunvand has currently. consistently employed the term “Urban Legend” and the To explore this further, we decided to check the status popularity of his work seems to have established it as the of these 25 legends on the well known urban legend preferred description. All of these books have “urban” in website, www..com. Since entries in Snopes are the title and seven have “legend”. However, “myth’ is often updated, we checked for when the page devoted to almost as common, occurring in five titles. a particular legend was most recently updated. The number of stories offered by these volumes varies If we divide the Brunvand legends into those appearing from as few as 28 to over 600. However, it should be in four or more collections and those appearing in three or noted that counting texts is not always straightforward. less, they amount to 13 and 12 respectively. Of the 13 Some books contain relatively full versions of stories most commonly cited, 9 had been updated in Snopes.com supplemented with short statements, usually only a since 2001. Of the 12 which were least common in the sentence long. In our count we have included these single popular collections, only 4 had been updated since 2001

FTN 69 (December 2007) page 2 (and two had no entry in Snopes at all.). Scholars’ Runaway Grandmother is also likely to have locations judgements as to how current a given legend might be are specified because in most versions, the grandmother’s usually made impressionistically. Neither the popular corpse is being transported across national boundaries, collections nor Snopes may be regarded as an infallible so we have Forth Worth, Texas /Mexico, or Surrey, guide to a story’s currency but both may be treated as England/ France or Moldova/Ukraine. The only Runaway helpful indicators. Grandmother text without locations is a version which Now let us consider aspects of actual legend texts in does not involve cross national borders. On the whole, for these books: We concentrated on seven of the most the other legends, the ascription of location does not frequently included legends with a total of 40 variants in seem to have any particular significance. One author, all. Hennigan, as part of his attempt to claim the stories to be These were The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs, Hot Scottish, assigns each of his texts to a location in Dog, The Vanishing Hitchhiker, The Killer in the Backseat, Scotland. To us, the ascriptions seem arbitrary. As with Kentucky Fried Rat, The Runaway Grandmother, and named characters, we believe it might throw more light on Spiders in the Hairdo. the book texts, if a similar survey were to be undertaken for oral texts. TITLES: This is the most obvious difference between printed legends and oral telling. If legends are normally DATES: Unlike locations, dates are rarely given. The clear told as invitations to believe, then the idea that what you exception to a “no date” rule is The Spider in the Hairdo. are conveying has a name would perhaps be The reason seems obvious. The early versions of the counterproductive. Book authors have already proclaimed legend refer to particular hairstyles which are no longer that their stories are legends or myths, so a title for a story fashionable. Hence, there is a need to give the story is not a problem. It is also beneficial from the point of view authenticity by placing it in the past, “mid 1980s”, “50s”. Of of the layout of the text. Of the 40 texts we studied in course, any alternative is to associate the story with a detail: only 2 had not been given a title, 15 had what may more contemporary hairstyle. The version called “The be considered a standard title (the same as, or similar to, Dreaded Nest” in Brown and Flynn (2003) relates to a Brunvand’s, such as Phantom Hitchhiker, Southern Fried male surfer with dreadlocks. Chicken), and 23 had what might be termed creative titles. The last category is the most interesting. Some have the advantage over standard titles that they do not give the TEXT EVOLUTION Comparison of the legend texts may denouement away in advance: e.g. “Box of Surprises” for usefully be compared with other, earlier versions. The Kentucky Fried Rat. Some are puns or cultural allusions, replacement of “beehive” hairstyle with dreadlocks just e.g. “Racked With Guilt?” for The Runaway Grandmother, mentioned is a case in point. One text seemed worth and “Upstairs, Downstairs”, the name of a popular quoting in full. Holt and Mooney (2004) present a version televisions series for The Baby Sitter and the Man of the story Brunvand calls Killer in the Backseat under Upstairs. the title Pumped Up.

NAMES: We usually refer to contemporary legends as Sherry pulled into a gas station. She inserted her credit being told about anonymous characters, hence “friend of card in the slot at the pump and filled her gas tank. a friend” or “FOAF”. Book authors have the option of She then replaced the nozzle and started to get back naming the characters. This is much less common than in her car and leave. As she walked around the hood, giving the whole story a title. For three of the legends, we she heard the attendant’s voice over the loudspeaker. found no names attached to the protagonists. For the Something had happened with her credit card payment others, an occasional name was employed, amounting to and she needed to come inside and re-pay. only 7 texts in all. The names seem to add little and are Sherry was confused, because the transaction at the fairly conventional, e.g. Jennifer and Mary Lou for pump seemed complete and approved. She decided to threatened babysitters and Sherry and Millie for ignore him. The attendant once again urged her to threatened drivers. This may be because the “success” of come inside to pay, this time saying that if she didn’t contemporary legends in oral transmission has he would be forced to call the authorities. demonstrated that there is no particular need for Sherry went inside and started arguing with the characters to be named. However, a question does arise attendant about his threat. He told her to calm down here: Has anyone actually done a thorough study of when and listen carefully. orally transmitted legends are told about named “While you were pumping gas,” he said, “I saw a guy individuals? Without such a study we cannot say whether slip into the back seat of your car from the other side. or not names more commonly occur in the popular urban I’ve called the police.” legend texts. She looked out in time to see the police pull up. She watched as they surrounded her car. With guns drawn, LOCATIONS: We found that the books were much more the cops opened the back doors and dragged a man likely to name locations than people. Of the 40 texts we wearing a ski mask from the back seat. looked at in detail, 24 had specified locations. This was The police later informed her that this was a new gang most clearly a feature of the Vanishing Hitchhiker texts. initiation rite. The requirement was to bring back a This is possibly because the story gains a sense of woman’s body part. authenticity by being in a specific location. Sometimes the location is a town or area (Oxford, Brooklyn, Pocono This seems a particularly interesting development in Mountains in Pennsylvania). Sometimes a specific road is the legend. Early versions had the woman driver being mentioned (A1 in the UK, Route 130 in the USA). The followed by a male driver whose intentions she

FTN 69 (December 2007) page 3 misunderstood. In the quoted version, the warning is given Healey, Phil and Glanvill, Rick (1992) Urban Myths. by the gas station attendant. As a piece of narrative this London: Virgin seems to us weaker. There is no build up of tension Healey, Phil and Glanvill, Rick (1993) The Return of Urban because of the other car continuing to follow her. Myths. London Virgin. However, it is clear from a number of sources that the gas Healey, Phil and Glanvill, Rick (1994) Urban Myths station version is now very strong and being circulated as Unplugged. London: Virgin. a warning (see, for example, the Snopes.com website and *Healey, Phil and Glanvill, Rick (1996) Now That’s What I FLS News 49, 2006). It should be noted, however, that it Call Urban Myths. London Virgin. (326 texts, little does not seem to have “killed off” the earlier version. If we commentary) are right in considering this version dramatically weaker, *Hennigan, Brian (2002) Scottish Urban Myths. Edinburgh: some explanation seems to be required for the success of Black and White. (99 texts, little commentary) the more recent version. Our hypothesis is that it reflects a *Holt, David and Mooney, Bill (1999) Spiders in the Hairdo: real anxiety about gas/petrol stations at night, where the Modern Urban Legends. Little Rock: August House. staff member is safely locked away, heightening one’s (55 texts, references, little commentary) awareness that one is exposed to dangers against which *Holt, David and Mooney, Bill (2004) The Exploding Toilet: the attendant is protected. Modern Urban Legends. Little Rock: August House. (76 texts, little commentary) Conclusion: *Reeve, Robin (2002) The Book of Urban Legends. London: Michael O’Mara. (143 texts, very little Although our analysis has been limited, we believe that commentary) the issues emerging are worth the attention of scholars of *Roeper, Richard (2001) Urban Legends: The Truth Behind contemporary scholars. While studying these book texts, All Those Deliciously Entertaining Myths That Are we began to consider questions which might be raised Absolutely, Positively, 100 % Not True! Franklin about orally transmitted texts. For example, in what Lakes, NJ: Career Press. (69 texts, index, circumstances are stories told anonymously and in what references, full commentary) circumstances are personal names, locations and dates Roeper, Richard (2002) Hollywood Urban Legends: The employed? More issues would probably emerge from Truth Behind All Those Delightfully Persistent Myths extending this preliminary review we have undertaken. It of Film, Television, and Music. Franklin Lakes, NJ: might even be argued that scholars have an obligation to Career Press. study them. These are, after all, performances of legends, Williams, John A. (2001) The Cost of Deception: The which are worth attempting to interpret through taking Seduction of Modern Myths and Urban Legends. account of the particular circumstances in which they Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holman. occur. As such they may take a place alongside the other performances which are available, including, of course, the oral. "Urban Legend/myth" in Crosswords and References Comics *Brown, Yorick and Flynn, Mike (2000) The 500 Best Urban Legends Ever! New York: ibooks. (385 texts, little Jan H. Brunvand commentary) Brunvand, Jan Harold (1981) The Vanishing Hitchhiker: The acceptance by the general public of the term American Urban Legends and Their Meanings. New "urban legend" (sometimes, unfortunately, "urban myth") York: Norton. is proven by, among other things, the appearance of the Craughwell, Thomas, J. (2000) The Baby on the Car Roof term(s) in crossword puzzles and in newspaper comic and 222 More Urban Legends. New York: Black strips. The ways the terms are used also indicate just how well the concepts are grasped by the purveyors and Dog and Leventhal. consumers of popular culture. *Craughwell, Thomas J. (2005) Urban Legends: 666 For example, in The New York Times crossword No. Absolutely True Stories that happened to a 00216, published March 30, 2006, the clue "Fairy tales Friend… of a Friend… of a Friend. New York: Black and urban legends" was used to elicit the word "folklores." Dog and Leventhal. (636 texts, index, little Choosing that larger general category for the answer was commentary) correct, although the plural form "folklores" seems odd. Dale, Rodney (1978) The Tumour In The Whale:A In the crossword syndicated to newspapers by Collection Of Modern Myths. London: Duckworth. Thomas Joseph, published May 31, 2007, a specific urban Dale, Rodney (2005) The Wordsworth Book of Urban legend is rightly referenced. The clue was "Home of some Legend. Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth. gators" and the answer was "sewers." *Genge, N. E. (2000) Urban Legends: The As-Complete- The acrostic puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon As-One-Could-Be Guide to Modern Myths. New published in the Sunday New York Times Magazine has York: Three Rivers Press. (around 320 texts, full twice recently referenced urban legends. In the acrostic commentary Note: No index or references. published September 18, 2005, the clue for the answer *Harding, Nick (2005) Urban Legends. Harpenden, Herts.: "urban legend" is the accurate definition "Modern-day tale Pocket Essentials. (28 texts, references, full probably apocryphal (2 wds)." And in the acrostic commentary)

FTN 69 (December 2007) page 4 published January 22, 2006, the clue "Evidence for many Sandra Bullock in the 1998 film “Practical Magic” to an urban legend" was simply "anecdote." intoxicate her sister’s annoying boyfriend, who Numerous daily newspaper comic strips have alluded unfortunately died of an overdose.) The narrators in to urban legends in the past; two recent examples are Estonia, of course, were not bothered about the fact that typical. In J. P. Toomey's strip "Sherman's Lagoon" (about such eye drops were not available in pharmacies. Last creatures in an ocean lagoon) published on February 16, week it turned out that the cause of the young woman’s 2007, a made-up (or adapted) urban legend is somewhat death was alcohol mixed with drugs. The owner of the wrongly labelled: Sherman the shark says to his sea turtle nightclub said in a television interview on November 21 friend, "Fillmore, do you realize that at this very moment, that all the tales about drink-spiking are urban legends. there's a swarm of killer clams getting ever so much Yet paramedics have commented on a number of closer to this lagoon[?]." The turtle replies in the next analogous cases and claimed that nearly 10% of such panel, "That's an urban myth, Sherman." (In the last two intoxications may have been caused by malice. In any panels the two creatures merely trade insults.) case, the moral is clear and simple: young girls, be In Darby Conley's strip "Get Fuzzy" published on cautious, do not drink with strangers or leave your drink February 20, 2006, the cartoonist seems to be alluding to unattended! the somewhat arbitrary usage of the term itself (with a sideswipe at a famous film director) . In panel no. 1 the cat introduces the dog to his new friend, saying "Satchel, this is my new mentor, Quentin Tabbytino." Satchel the "The Man in the Middle." Further Update dimwitted dog asks "Mentor for what?" In the second panel the cat rants, "Don't you know who he is? He's a Bonnie Taylor-Blake world famous filmmaker! He's Quentin Tabbytino! He's a living urban legend!" "How," asks Satchel, in the last From James Thurber's The Years with Ross, Harper panel, "is he an urban legend?" The cat replies, "DUH! Perennial Modern Classics; New Ed edition, 2001. First because he's a Legend . . . and he's from the City!" [bf in edition published in 1959.] the original]. Obviously the term "urban myth" would not have worked in this context, for which I suppose we Cartoonist Thurber describes a discussion with *New should be grateful. Yorker* founding editor Harold Ross.

"There was another drawing that set off a memorable display of fireworks between the editor and me. It Two Legends from Estonia showed three hound dogs in the window of a pet shop, one of them, sitting between the other two, Eda Kalmre having unusually sad eyes and gentle expression. A would-be woman purchaser is talking to the proprietor Two cautionary tales which have recently gained of the store, who is saying, "I'm very sorry, madam, considerable popularity in Estonia are probably also well but the one in the middle is stuffed, poor fellow." known in the international legend tradition. "I don't think they have stuffed dogs in pet shops," The first tale highlights fears connected with the recent Ross said. "Not in the show window, anyway." incredible advances in technology. I first recorded the This shop has one in the show window," I said rumour, which was circulating mostly among people stubbornly. interested in technology and video recording, in 2000. "You have me there," Ross growled. Then I got into Around this time digital video cameras became more deeper difficulty. popular in Estonia. The legend goes that certain models "It's a variant of that old story about the three men on of Sony digital camcorders can be used not only for the subway train late at night," I said. "They were seeing and filming in the dark but also for seeing through sitting across from a fourth man, who is left alone on clothes. People in online chat rooms claimed that this the train with the three others after still a fifth side-effect was due to an accidental error in the passenger hands him a note and gets off at the next production process. Who would not be frightened of being stop. The note says, 'The man in the middle is dead.'" seen naked through a tourist camera while walking in I never saw Ross look unhappier about anything. He town, or filmed naked by a male colleague recording an said so much then, in such a splutter, that it doesn't office party! It is difficult to say why the legend has come back to me coherently now. emerged anew in Estonia. Perhaps it is owing to the "I'll send that drawing in to every art meeting until it's introduction of new models of camcorders in the market? bought and printed," I told him. I think it was bought The second tale was inspired by the written press and on its third resubmission." [p. 53] an unfortunate incident in a Tallinn nightclub. Some months ago a young woman suddenly died in a nightclub. In early 1930 Alexander Woollcott had written twice on The cause of death was believed to be drink-spiking. "The Man in the Middle" in his "Shouts and Murmurs" Following this incident, dozens of cases of suspected column for The New Yorker. Thurber's "stuffed dog" nightclub drugging were mentioned. Legends about cartoon appears on p. 16 of the 7 March 1936 issue. spiking women’s drinks with eye drops containing deadly nightshade (atropa belladonna), which had previously spread in the Soviet era, were rehashed. (As a passing note, belladonna was used by the character played by

FTN 69 (December 2007) page 5 Events The Brian McConnell Book Award

Perspectives On Contemporary Legend The International Society for Contemporary Legend International Society for Contemporary Legend Research Research has established an annual book prize in honour of Brian McConnell. The purpose of the award is to 26th International Conference encourage scholarship in the field of Contemporary Dublin, Ireland Legend, to recognize and inspire standards of excellence 7-10 July 2008 in Contemporary Legend publications and to commemorate the life and work of Brian McConnell, a The International Society for Contemporary Legend long time member of ISCLR, celebrated crime reporter, Research is pleased to announce that the 2008 author and legend scholar. Perspectives on Contemporary Legend International The prize is for a book receiving its first publication in Conference is to be held at the Camden Court Hotel in the period 1st April to the following 30th March, for award Dublin, Ireland, from the 7th to 10th July 2008. the following summer. Only books published during the Proposals for papers on all aspects of “contemporary,” proceeding twelve months will be considered. Eligible "urban," or "modern" legend research are solicited, as are books will include original material or new scholarly those on any legend or legend-like tradition that presently editions of previously published texts, but excludes circulate, or have circulated at an earlier historical period. reprints Previous discussions have ranged in focus from the Three copies of each book submitted for the award ancient to the modern (including Internet-lore) and have should reach the judges, c/o the Society's President, by covered diverse cultures worldwide (including popular and 30 March. Books submitted for the award will not be academic cultures). returned. The award winner will be announced at the The 2008 meeting will be organized as a series of Annual General Meeting of ISCLR. The main prize will be seminars at which the majority of those who attend will the award itself, but the winning author (or authors) will present papers and/or contribute to discussion sessions. also be presented with a cheque for $250 (US). Concurrent sessions will be avoided so that all There will be three judges appointed by the Society's participants can hear all the papers. Proposals for special Council, one of whom will be the Society's President, or panels of papers, discussion sessions, and other related First Vice-President. The judges may, at their discretion, events are encouraged. consider books which have not been formally submitted The Camden Court Hotel, Lower Camden Street, for the prize. The winning book will be that which, in the Dublin 2, is about 20 minutes walk from the centre of opinion of the judges made the most distinguished Dublin, and five minutes from the Grafton Street and St. contribution to the study of Contemporary Legend in the Stephen’s Green popular shopping, eating and year in question. entertainment areas. The projected room rates (including Books to be considered for the McConnell Award taxes) are: Single B&B $129; Double B&B $149. Exact should be sent in triplicate to: room rates should be available in February. Cathy Preston, President, ISCLR Conference Fees: English Department Hellems 101 ISCLR Members: $95 US (or the equivalent). 226 UCB Non-members: $135 US (or the equivalent). University of Colorado, Boulder Students: $25 US (or the equivalent). Colorado 80309-0226 USA To participate in the conference, please forward a title and abstract (400 words), along with the appropriate conference fee to the organizer, Paul Smith, by 1st Editor's Note: February 2008. As it is now almost 4 years since Brian's death, readers might like to refresh their memory of one of ISCLR's For further information contact: founding members. We are therefore reprinting, courtesy of the Folklore Society, the appreciation Sandy Hobbs Paul Smith, Department of Folklore, Memorial University, contributed to Folklore (vol 105, [December 2004]:346]) St. John’s, Newfoundland, CANADA, A1B 3X8. Phone: (Office) 709-737-8410/8402. (Home) 709-895- 3159. FAX: 709-737-4718 E-mail: [email protected] IN MEMORIAM: Brian McConnell, 1928-2004

Sandy Hobbs

Awards Brian McConnell was born on December 27, 1928 on Tyneside but spent most of his childhood in and around 1. London. After a checkered schooling, he started work at International Society for Contemporary Legend Research the age of 14 on the Municipal Journal, the beginning of a Announces A New Award life long association with the press. Amongst the many roles he fulfilled were court reporter and crime reporter for

FTN 69 (December 2007) page 6 the Daily Mirror and, for a short time, news editor of The read the press obituaries. In 1974, in The Mall, London, Sun. When he died on July 10, 2004, obituaries in The an armed man crashed his car into a limousine carrying Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and The Times naturally the Queen’s daughter, Princess Anne, and her husband focused on his life as a journalist and author. His interest Captain Mark Phillips. Her bodyguard and chauffeur were in folklore was largely overlooked. both shot. Brian happened to be in a taxi near the scene. Although he did not join the Folklore Society until 1981, Hearing the shots, he got out and tried to persuade the his interest in the subject had developed earlier. He had man to give up his weapon. Brian was also shot. For his attended a meeting of the society as a journalist in the actions, he was awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal. It 1960s. As a crime reporter, he had become aware of the was characteristic of this essentially modest man that this many legends which grow up around notorious cases. was a story he did not tell to his many friends in folklore Under the pseudonym “Old Codgers” he edited the “Live circles. Letters” column in the popular newspaper, the Daily Students of contemporary folklore have lost a man of Mirror. There he often had to try to disentangle reality and boundless curiosity, who had an encyclopedic knowledge “myths”. One question posed by a reader was “Are there he was always willing to share. or are there not alligators in the sewers of New York?” Brian gave a balanced and knowledgeable answer. From the 1980s, Brian regularly attended meetings of 2. the Folklore Society. He also participated in the Dr. David Buchan Student Essay Prize conferences of the International Society for Contemporary For Contemporary Legend Research Legend Research held on both sides of the Atlantic, 2007-2008 frequently accompanied by his wife, Margaret. His papers included “The Killing of a Murder Legend (College Station, The International Society for Contemporary Legend 1989), “Hey, Judge, Tell Me Another!” (Boulder, 1997) and Research (ISCLR) is pleased to announce that it is to “Tales That Wagged The Dog” (Sheffield, 2002). award an annual student essay prize to honour the Brian wrote several books, mostly dealing with some memory of Dr. David Buchan (1939-1994), leading aspect of crime. They included Assassination (1969) international ballad scholar, and a staunch supporter and covering killings from antiquity to the Kennedys. The perceptive writer in the area of contemporary legend Neilson File (1983) dealing with the mass murderer research. Dennis Neilson, The Possessed, True Tales of Demonic Possession (1995), and Holy Killers (1995) which was The prize will be awarded for the best student essay that concerned with religious leaders who were also combines research and analysis on some aspect of murderers. His writings on folklore topics were numerous contemporary legend, or contemporary legend research. but in the main brief. He contributed regularly to Previously published essays will not be considered for the newsletters such as FLS News, FOAFtale News and award. Letters to Ambrose Merton. The range was wide, covering subjects such as baptismal customs, remembrance Applications are invited from registered (post)graduate notices in the press, Essex girl jokes, modern witches, students, although undergraduate essays will also be cauls and the puns in the names of hairdressing accepted for consideration on the advice of faculty establishments. One of his most substantial publications members. on contemporary lore was his chapter, “The Corporate Folk-Legend: Marketing Invention or Consumer Either students or their teachers may submit essays. Response?” in Gillian Bennett and Paul Smith’s The Instructors are asked to encourage students with eligible Questing Beast (Sheffield Academic Press, 1989). His essays to enter the competition. articles for British Journalism Review, South London Press and New Law Journal also often dealt with folkloric The deadline for submission is 1st of May in the year the themes. award is to be made, and the essays should have been Perhaps his most characteristic contributions were written within the previous academic year, or the current oral. Although at the annual seminars, Perspectives on academic year. Contemporary Legend, he often gave papers, it is probably as a frequent and enthusiastic contributor to the The award will be made by the President of ISCLR upon discussions which followed other peoples’ papers that he the recommendation of the Selection Committee will be particularly remembered. He was also a tireless appointed by him\her, and will be announced at the storyteller in the evenings. To meetings where most of the annual meeting of the Society. participants were from academic backgrounds, Brian brought the distinctive and welcome perspective of the The winner will receive $250 (U.S.), and a year's journalist. membership to ISCLR. The winning essay will normally Brian had planned to present a paper on “The Pretty be submitted for publication in the Society's journal, Nun’s Kiss” at the Perspectives on Contemporary Legend Contemporary Legend. conference held at Aberystwyth in July, 2004. His death robbed delegates of the chance to hear him one more For further information or a copy of the Guide For time. Instead he featured in the many reminiscences Applicants, please contact: which his friends shared. Although the stories Brian told frequently featured himself, there was one story which many of his friends discovered for the first time when they Professor Paul Smith,

FTN 69 (December 2007) page 7 Coordinator, David Buchan Student Essay Prize Mikel Koven's new book, Film, Folklore and Urban Department of Folklore Legends, Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John’s, Newfoundland is now available from Scarecrow Press. For detaiils, see Canada A1B 3X8 FTN 68, page 10. Email: [email protected]

Publications News

Bonnie Taylor-Blake writes: Miscellany

I thought I might pass along the titles of three recent Brian Chapman writes: papers that may be of interest to readers of *FTN*: "This cartoon comes from the 14 September 2007 edition 1) Libby Hill, "The Chicago Epidemic of 1885; An Urban of the syndicated one-panel comic, "Chuckle Bros.," by Legend?" The Journal of Illinois History. 9(3): 154-174 Brian Boychuk, Ron Boychuk, and Ronnie Martin. (August, 2006). (Libby begins her paper with, "Countless histories of Chicago mention devastating 1885 epidemics I don't think it's available on-line, so I scanned the comic triggered by a flood that washed unspeakable filth into the from my local paper, the Victoria (BC) Times Colonist city's water supply. According to numerous sources available from the last fifty years, as many as ninety thousand Chicagoans -- 12 percent of the city's population -- succumbed to life-draining waterborne diseases of cholera, typhoid, and dysentery. It is a shocking tale of a vibrant metropolis laid low by ungovernable nature and disease. And it never happened.")

2) John William Johnson, "The Vanishing Hitchhiker in Africa," Research in African Literatures. 38(3): 24-33 (Fall, 2007).

(Abstract: The first possible variant of the urban legend The Vanishing Hitchhiker occurs in Acts 8: 26-40 with the conversion of an "Ethiopian" by the hitchhiking apostle Philip. More recent variants in the Gambia and Somalia exhibit a different plot, but retain the vanishing hitchhiker motif. A female hitchhiker spends time with a man, who is later unable to locate her, but who finds his coat on her grave. The found-coat variant is part of a widespread cycle of vanishing hitchhiker legends. Could the story have originated in Africa? This article deals with this issue and with widespread occurrences of this legend.)

3) John D. Galuska & John W. Johnson, "The Vanishing Hitchhiker: Bibliographic References," Research in African Literatures. 38(3): 34-40 (Fall, 2007).

(Galuska and Johnson write, "It is not surprising that the legend of the Vanishing Hitchhiker is found in Africa. It is one of the most persistent and widespread urban legends in the world today, as will become obvious in the bibliography that follows. This work was completed with the assistance of a modest grant from the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University and the determined assistance of John Galuska. It contains every reference we could find dealing with the topic.")

These last two works are available as PDFs (they are about 500 and 460 KB respectively.

FTN 69 (December 2007) page 8 FOAFtale News (FTN) is the newsletter of the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research. We study "modern" and "urban" legends, and also any legend circulating actively. To join, send a cheque made out to "ISCLR" for US$30.00 or UK£20 to Mikel J. Koven, AHSS, University of Worcester, Henwick Grove, Worcester WR2 6AJ, UK. Institutional rates available upon request. Members also receive From the Editor Contemporary Legend, a refereed academic journal. Some back issues of FTN are available on-line at The present editor of FOAFtale News wishes it to be http://www.folklore.ee/FOAFtale. known that: (1) anybody is free to send a contribution, and it will FOAFtale News is indexed in the MLA Bibliography. not be refereed. However, the editor has discretion to refuse an item if she considers it unsuitable for This newsletter is called FOAFtale News for the jocular any reason. term current among legend scholars for over twenty (2) there is no house-style and there will be no years. The term "foaf" was introduced by Rodney Dale editorial intervention in any text sent in. It is up to (in his 1978 book, The Tumour in the Whale) for an oft- attributed but anonymous source of contemporary contributors to check spelling and grammar. Original legends: a "friend of a friend." Dale pointed out that spelling and punctuation (US or British English) will contemporary legends always seemed to be about be retained and may therefore vary between items. someone just two or three steps from the teller — a (3) authors retain their copyright, and reserve all boyfriend’s cousin, a co-worker’s aunt, or a neighbor of rights. the teller’s mechanic. "Foaf" became a popular term at (4) clippings from newspapers should note bylines the Sheffield legend conferences in the 1980s. It was and sources. only a short step to the pun "foaftale," a step taken by a )5) this policy may change if a new editor is yet-anonymous wag. appointed. The opinions expressed in FOAFtale News are those of the authors and do not in any necessary way represent those of the editor, the contributors, the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research, its Council, or its members.

ISCLR users' group Next issue April 2008

ISCLR Web page: www.panam.edu/faculty/mglazer/isclr/isclr.htm CONTRIBUTIONS WELCOME! ISSN 1026-1001 Please send contributions to

Anybody is free to send a contribution to FOAFtale News. We welcome a wide variety of items, including those documenting legends' travels on electronic media and in the press; also news, queries, notices, reviews and research reports; clippings, offprints, and citations are also encouraged. Articles will not be refereed and contributors will retain their copyright. However, the editor has discretion to refuse an item if it is considered unsuitable for any reason

FTN 69 (December 2007) page 9